Precision tools, such as torque wrenches, are commonly used in automotive and industrial applications to apply a predetermined torque and/or angular displacement to a work piece such as a threaded fastener, for example. A particular torque and/or angular displacement may be specified in a job specification or work schedule to be applied to each work piece in a job. The precision tools are commonly adjustable and may be manually configured to apply the specified torque and/or angular displacement to each work piece in the job. Once a specified torque or angle setting is configured, the precision tool may prevent a user from exceeding a specified torque or angular displacement by actuating a mechanical release between the force applicator or handle of the tool and the work piece or head of the tool, for example. Alternately, the precision tool may simply indicate when the specified torque and/or angular displacement has been applied by providing a tactile, audible or visual indication, for example. For jobs that involve numerous different torque and/or displacement specifications, the process of resetting the tool for each different specification may be slow and labor intensive and introduces opportunities for errors.
Precision tools, such as torque wrenches, are also commonly used to measure the applied torque and/or angular displacement applied to a work piece. In many applications, the measurements of torque and/or angular displacement that are acquired by the use of such precision tools are manually recorded in a log for quality assurance purposes. The process of manually recording measurements in a log is also slow and labor intensive and introduces further opportunities for errors.